[Marauder2]

I'm looking to buy one for school, take some notes on Word and such, so I'm just looking for some opinions. What do you think of yours? Can you type fairly well considering it's small size? I have quite small hands so I'm thinking I would be alright. Simply, is it worth the money?

[Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes]

I bought every accessory except it. Only because it costs a lot even if it works well.

[Marauder2]

I know it's quite pricy, but my laptop is too unreliable, and I could use Splashtop or a cloud service for my files, I see it as a lot of money saved compared to replacing my laptop (student budget), but only if I will be worth it and a decent typing experience.

[jwn66]

I'd say it's worth it, works good, just like any other new keyboard, takes some adjusting. I have big hands, no probs. It's worth it just for the trackpad, so easy to pick your spot with a cursor if you see a spelling error 10 lines up lol

[hpjrt]

I love mine. It is expensive but it does have a track pad which the less expensive ones don't have. In DocsToGo the usual keyboard shortcuts/commands work well. It holds its charge a long time too - about a month or more depending on use.

HTH

[CairnsRock]

I havnt tried it, but it looks too tiny to me. You can get a Dell bluetooth travel mouse for $15 that lets you move the cursor around. May be worth thinking about.

[rkennedy01]

For the same money, I grabbed a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. And while it's not as portable, I find the flexibility of a detached, multi-component setup to be more desirable since I can "spread out" a bit while working at a desk, etc. Plus, I'm a touch-typist, so key size/spacing is a factor.

Here's what I use:

Keyboard
Mouse

Very happy overall, and I can also use them with my Android tablets.

RCK

[jafobabe]

I really enjoy my Blackberry Mini Keyboard. It holds a charge for almost a month (less with a lot of usage) A little time needed to get used to it, but all keyboards are that way.
I just bought my second one from ShopCrackberry, for my other 64GB PB.
I like how it is all together and easy to slide it in my purse and off I go. Great for meetings too. I use the cleaning cloth laid between the keyboard and the PB screen when it's closed up.

You can take it out of the case and use it some distance away from the PB too. The User Guide is below.

[mhw100]

Check cb for there 15% off deals and buy it then.

[Herve5]

How lucky you all are. I'd buy in a heartbeat if only there was an AZERTY layout possible... Go on RIM, after all being canadian you're suppose to listen some french

[NFLPLAYBOOK]

I don't use mine a lot. Just when I have my PlayBook just far enough away from me that I don't want to reach to type. As for how typing on it feels, it's the same as typing directly on the PlayBook. Almost the identical size so if you comfortable on that then it will work for you. The track pad is nice for getting the cursor exactly where you need it. If you have a BB phone it's just as easy to use that. You're a student so I would say save your money because you won't get much benefit from using it when you're sittting at a desk with it in easy reach.

[zorecati]

I bought it when it was on sale. I took 3 years of typing in highschool and consider myself decent at the keyboard. For me, the little keyboard is useless but my wife seems to like it.

[FF22]

I bought it when it was on sale. I took 3 years of typing in highschool and consider myself decent at the keyboard. For me, the little keyboard is useless but my wife seems to like it.

The linear or squared off nature of the keyboard (as someone mentioned - it is like the on-screen keyboard) unlike the angled rows/columns of a real keyboard make it somewhat awkward to use. The short travel distance (downward movement) also makes it somewhat odd.

[kill_9]

I'm looking to buy one for school, take some notes on Word and such, so I'm just looking for some opinions. What do you think of yours? Can you type fairly well considering it's small size? I have quite small hands so I'm thinking I would be alright. Simply, is it worth the money?

First, I highly recommend the Hipstreet Playbook Portfolio Case with Bluetooth Keyboard combined with the Logitech V470 Bluetooth Mouse, although in class you will not need the mouse most of the time. The Hipstreet keyboard is larger than the BlackBerry OEM Bluetooth Keyboard but still requires a bit of time to gain speed over a traditional full-size keyboard.

Next, in the absence of any mention of your intended area of study at university the following recommendations/suggestions are best-effort and cover general student academic requirements.

For term papers and similar writing assignments you could subscribe to Microsoft Office 365 web service, although the functionality is somewhat limited, or you could use a LaTeX document editing and processing web service (Verbosus, ShareLaTeX), or SmartOffice which is available through BlackBerry AppWorld. Additionally, if your university provides student access to their LaTeX system you could edit your documents complete with LaTeX mark-up code using a plain-text editor and submitting the file(s) to the system. The latter suggestion is particularly beneficial for science students (astronomy, biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, zoology, etc.). Reading documents provided in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) you could use the included Adobe Reader (cough) or one of the PDF reader applications, such as PDF Reader available in BlackBerry AppWorld. In the case of LaTeX you type the content in plain-text with some mark-up language elements and can choose between various output formats including PDF and RTF.

Applications to schedule your time or serve as a daily diary include Groovy Notes and Diary Pro.

An application called Book Reader which can handle most ebook formats. There are utilities available on the Internet to remove DRM restrictions if necessary. Why Adobe refuses to release a version of Adobe Digital Editions for the BlackBerry PlayBook continues to baffle me. Apparently, the new Adobe SDK is supposed to alleviate this issue in the future. In the meantime, I must resort to circumventing Adobe's DRM to read paid-for ebooks "protected" by Adobe's Digital Editions (ADE) technology.

Wikipedia is accessible via an application called Wikipedia or via the built-in web browser. However, never cite Wikipedia as a source in any academic paper because it is not a primary source nor even an appropriate secondary citation source.

There are applications for FaceBook, Twitter, TweetBook, WordPress (an Android application), plus these services are available through the bullt-in web browser if you do not want separate applications.

If you want a very basic text editor there is PlainText Editor. You might find the utility UurToPDF useful if you want to save a local copy of a web page for later reference instead of bookmarking it.

The options for off-tablet file storage are numerous though my preference is Box.net which is supported natively by some applications for the tablet as well as supported by the file management application Files & Folders available from BlackBerry AppWorld. If you need to access file stored on a Microsoft Windows network server or workstation, Ghost Commander, an Android application, is available through BlackBerry AppWorld - though I find sending files from my notebook to my tablet using the native file manager utility via WiFi or USB on my notebook easier.

As to the thorny issue of printing directly from the BlackBerry PlayBook such capability is not possible at the present time. You have options such as sending via email a document to an e-printer. Some colleges and universities provide e-print access to their printers for students. Alternatively, you could purchase an e-printer for your personal use. Hopefully, your university is progressive and prefers assignments submitted electronically rather than printed on dead trees.

Another consideration is whether you prefer typing notes during the lecture, handwriting the notes in class and transcribing them to the tablet after class, or even handwriting all notes and scanning them into one or more PDF files. This is a very personal and use-case sensitive preference but I wanted to get you thinking before the academic year begins in earnest.

Hope this information will be helpful.

[togardergrosse]

Bought this keyboard for full price at BBWorld 2012 before.
Still using it, occasionally.
For me, it's very hard to adjust, because I keep using different full-size keyboard on my office.
But at travel, you can really count on it.
If you wanting to use it as your primary keyboard, it will also support other smartphone/tablet as well.
Tried it on my Galaxy Nexys and even on my PC.

[cleveland216]

I like it, don't love it, but can't live without it and carry it everywhere. A must-have in my opinion

[madman0141]

It is fine for a $25-$30 item but$100 plus you got to be out of your mine. I mean for less than the price of two you can buy another PlayBook.

[rackeonracke]

It's ok. It's pretty small and more of a two digit typer as opposed to ten digit. But that doesn't take too long to get used to. My #1 beef with it is that the trackpad isn't very sensitive and there's no way adjust that on the PlayBook. For notes at school, I'd suggest going with a more full-sized keyboard.

[foolishfool]

I just got a bluetooth keyboard, did a bunch of reading and had a hard time making a decision. The prices vary so much and so many negative reviews concerning the keys themselves and lag when typing. I went with this one:"SANOXY Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad" Amazon.com: SANOXY Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad: Computers & Accessories because it was so cheap and had fairly decent reviews. Figured if it sucked, at least I didn't throw away too much money.

So far, it has been great! It is not a mini keyboard, but it is small and fits in my bag easily. I use by BB curve using bridge as a remote control, so that acts as my mouse and the keyboard is great. It is easy to type on and no lag that I noticed, they keys are very responsive. I can easily work on word docs, spreadsheets, etc.. I actually use citrix receiver to remote in to a desktop at work. Screen is pretty small but I can get around using the curve as a mouse and the keyboard with ease.

It works well with other tablets in the house, although I got it primarily for the playbook as that is used for work more than anything.

[Marauder2]

First, I highly recommend the Hipstreet Playbook Portfolio Case with Bluetooth Keyboard combined with the Logitech V470 Bluetooth Mouse, although in class you will not need the mouse most of the time. The Hipstreet keyboard is larger than the BlackBerry OEM Bluetooth Keyboard but still requires a bit of time to gain speed over a traditional full-size keyboard.

Next, in the absence of any mention of your intended area of study at university the following recommendations/suggestions are best-effort and cover general student academic requirements.

For term papers and similar writing assignments you could subscribe to Microsoft Office 365 web service, although the functionality is somewhat limited, or you could use a LaTeX document editing and processing web service (Verbosus, ShareLaTeX), or SmartOffice which is available through BlackBerry AppWorld. Additionally, if your university provides student access to their LaTeX system you could edit your documents complete with LaTeX mark-up code using a plain-text editor and submitting the file(s) to the system. The latter suggestion is particularly beneficial for science students (astronomy, biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, zoology, etc.). Reading documents provided in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) you could use the included Adobe Reader (cough) or one of the PDF reader applications, such as PDF Reader available in BlackBerry AppWorld. In the case of LaTeX you type the content in plain-text with some mark-up language elements and can choose between various output formats including PDF and RTF.

Applications to schedule your time or serve as a daily diary include Groovy Notes and Diary Pro.

An application called Book Reader which can handle most ebook formats. There are utilities available on the Internet to remove DRM restrictions if necessary. Why Adobe refuses to release a version of Adobe Digital Editions for the BlackBerry PlayBook continues to baffle me. Apparently, the new Adobe SDK is supposed to alleviate this issue in the future. In the meantime, I must resort to circumventing Adobe's DRM to read paid-for ebooks "protected" by Adobe's Digital Editions (ADE) technology.

Wikipedia is accessible via an application called Wikipedia or via the built-in web browser. However, never cite Wikipedia as a source in any academic paper because it is not a primary source nor even an appropriate secondary citation source.

There are applications for FaceBook, Twitter, TweetBook, WordPress (an Android application), plus these services are available through the bullt-in web browser if you do not want separate applications.

If you want a very basic text editor there is PlainText Editor. You might find the utility UurToPDF useful if you want to save a local copy of a web page for later reference instead of bookmarking it.

The options for off-tablet file storage are numerous though my preference is Box.net which is supported natively by some applications for the tablet as well as supported by the file management application Files & Folders available from BlackBerry AppWorld. If you need to access file stored on a Microsoft Windows network server or workstation, Ghost Commander, an Android application, is available through BlackBerry AppWorld - though I find sending files from my notebook to my tablet using the native file manager utility via WiFi or USB on my notebook easier.

As to the thorny issue of printing directly from the BlackBerry PlayBook such capability is not possible at the present time. You have options such as sending via email a document to an e-printer. Some colleges and universities provide e-print access to their printers for students. Alternatively, you could purchase an e-printer for your personal use. Hopefully, your university is progressive and prefers assignments submitted electronically rather than printed on dead trees.

Another consideration is whether you prefer typing notes during the lecture, handwriting the notes in class and transcribing them to the tablet after class, or even handwriting all notes and scanning them into one or more PDF files. This is a very personal and use-case sensitive preference but I wanted to get you thinking before the academic year begins in earnest.

Hope this information will be helpful.

I am taking second year engineering. For some classes the notes are given so I write down the examples, but some classes I like having good notes to read when studying. It's those classes I bring my laptop to but it dies before the end and then can't even use it for the next one. I have very small hands, so even typing normal on the virtual keyboard is almost possible for me. So the mini keyboard would be okay after some practice I believe.

For the most part, I use the browser to access things like Facebook, Wikipedia, etc, its a much better experience and personally, I prefer the browser to most apps even when available.

As for text editing, I am trying to set up a system. I've got SkyDrive set up, and save all my files to there. When I am on the laptop I edit there, save to skydrive, and when I have wifi I use splashtop to do the same thing. When I don't have wifi, I am trying to use the skydrive website, or maybe use a file manager to access my documents. I'm just trying to find a way to be able to create or edit a document on either device, and have it sync in the cloud. I don't like having the file on my laptop, copy to playbook, edit it then have to replace the old file, there's too many versions and potential mishaps. Oh well.

Thanks everyone for your opinions!

[oilgeo10]

IMO, wouldn't recommend the BB mini keyboard to you for school work/note taking. It could be frustrating for you.
Do search here for "mini keyboard jumps" and read those comments. Mine does this and it is very annoying. If it is an oversensitive trackpad as some suggest, I'm not so sure and think it is another design flaw by RIM. I definitely do not touch the trackpad and the cursor can randomly jump. Have tried moving the pointer off the typing area and other 'fixes', but nothing solves it so far. The cursor jumped or disappeared 3 times while typing this reply!#**!
Only good thing is that I got it on sale and the case it comes with is good. Also long lasting battery as others have said.

[jenkitp]

I have bought 3 different bluetooth keyboards and of the 3 the bb mini was my 2nd favorite. Currently it will not connect.
The biggest issue I have/had with it is the price and the fact that is doesn't do the bezel guestures as the bb phone remote does. I thought it would include that, so it is no different than the ProMini BT-Touch 2. Its trackpad works the same as the official and it cost a lot less.

It is smaller but it also has a laser pointer built in as well.

The other keyboard I bought was the folding full size one but it doesn't have a trackpad at all since it designed for an iPaid.

[Willardv]

I tried to like mine, but couldn't get used to the small size. The dealbreaker for me though was the silicone rim on the case that holds the playbook in. Too difficult to take it in and out. Sold for half what I paid and am happily using a blurex case with no keyboard now. If I bought another, I'd definitely buy a detached bluetooth one.

[BlackStormRising]

As for text editing, I am trying to set up a system. I've got SkyDrive set up, and save all my files to there.

Do you use the Microsoft web apps as well? I'm curious to know if you are able to work with Excel productively using the mini KB.
I've tried using the bridge remote control but haven't got the knack for selecting a block of cells for copying and pasting for instance.

[rmpb]

I love my mini-kb. I use it for work and it's a lot easier to use it and the PB rather than a laptop in my truck. Takes a bit of getting used to and I still occasionally hit 9 when I'm trying to get a 0. Layout is slightly different to a normal keyboard so it takes getting used to. I HATE the trackpad, but this isn't surprising since I HATE all trackpads. When I first got it I used to have quite a few jumps, but not so much anymore. I do have the Logitech BT mouse which is great for browsing. I like the all in one case (although the straps for holding the keyboard aren't perfect - just good enough), but I rarely take it out of the case. It would be a bit of a pain if you intend to take it out regularly as someone else indicated. I'm not sure you're really going to know if it works for you or not without trying it.